Claiming The Archduchess

PROLOGUE

ALEJANDRO POV

The tension in the room was thick and cloying, the air dense and heavy to breathe.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and stared at the small chair that was placed in the middle of the office, curtains closed and shadows hiding underneath the blinding light of the crystal chandelier above. It was a good place, the one grandmothers used to have.

What enticed me was not the chair… No.

It was the bambolina dressed in a white dress, hair pulled in a tight bun on top of her head. She had on her feet white stiletto heels with red bottoms, and her face held no emotions whatsoever.

“Signorita, please. I did not mean to…”

“To betray my husband and I? I know.” She nodded with mock understanding, then pulled the white gloves from the pocket of her white fur coat that was draped behind the chair, and dropped them to her lap.

My blood ran cold with what came next!

“They had my family. My wife and my daughter… I didn’t know what to do.” The traitor bawled from the floor in front of her, his hands coming out to clutch the heel of her white stilettos, staining them with blood.

Her face twisted with disgust.

I chuckled where I stood.

“You are touching me.” She said with sheer nonchalance, and the man dropped his hand the shoe had caught fire.

Bruno yanked him, sending him to the floor where he landed with a meaty thunk.

“Now, the Contini’s have your wife and child hostage. Instead of doing what any smart man would, which is coming to me, or my husband to report, you decide it's in the best interest to go behind our backs and leak my dealings to the media. Not so smart, Lloyd.” She shook her head while regarding the man whose face was a mess of blood, tears, and mucus.

I stared, mesmerized by the intensity in Rayana’s eyes as she regarded the traitor who scattered the news of Rayana being involved with the underworld to the media.

When we found out who the rat was, I was livid, wanting to skin him alive and make a wall piece with his skin.

But then she held my hand, shook her head and me, and muttered ‘Let me take care of this.’

Seeing her in the game, how much she’s grown and accustomed to the mafia world made my chest swell with pride.

She took gloves and sheathed her hands, then stood up and took big strides to where I was standing.

I watched the small sway in her hips, the way the white dress clung to her body, and I swallowed audibly!

She was hot as hell. Heck, even today, I still couldn’t believe she was mine.

She stopped in front of me and leaned in for a small kiss. Our lips collided briefly, sending a spark of dopamine throughout my system. She pulled back and smiled.

I wrapped my arms around her lean waist and then stared into her beautiful eyes.

“What do you wanna do with this one?” I mumbled before nibbling her lower lip.

“Bruno show him the video we have.” She said out loud to Bruno who quickly sprung into action. My brows knitted with confusion, but she smiled assuringly before patting my chest.

“I am always a step ahead, baby.” And how true that was.

I watched out of my peripheral vision as Bruno tapped on the iPad he had, then showed it to Lloyd whose face contorted with pain at first, then a relieved laughter cackled out of him.

I stared at Rayana in question.

“I got the family from the Contini’s hands.” She winked, then yanked the gun from my waist belt and spun around in my hold.

My hands dropped from her waist reluctantly but once again, I was in utter awe.

She stood in front of Lloyd with a gun in her hand, Lloyd’s head hung low on his shoulders with defeat. He knew what was coming next. He knew there was no way he could make out alive after doing what he did.

Even if Rayana were to pardon him, I’d still smother him and send him straight to hell.

“You see, Lloyd, we take care of what is ours. You could have gotten your family safe and sound.” She said as she drew the gun and pointed it at the motherfucker’s face.

“I am so-,”

BAM!

The loud sound filled the space before the body dropped onto the floor. Blood started to pool from beneath it, and Rayana spun around and faced me.

Blood stained her dress, and looking at her now, I feared I might have created the she-devil.

She took off her gloves and dumped them onto the body, the signature she came up with when she fully accepted her role as my wife and the queen of Cosa Nostra.

A silent ‘I did it, and there’s nothing you can do about it,’ she sent to the police and everyone who dared to come spewing nonsense to us. She was my queen, my phoenix, and she was a bloody murder weapon.

She extended her hand, and I wrapped my fingers around her lean ones.

“Let’s get out of here.”